Dental insurance was developed in the 1960\u2019s as a separate benefit for oral health care.\u00a0 At that time, the standard level of coverage was $1000 maximum per year; preventive services at 100%, basic services at 80% and major services at 50%.\u00a0 Does this sound familiar to anyone?\u00a0 Most plans are still at this exact same level.\u00a0 There are now some plans with maximums that are a bit higher, but the coverage levels are usually the same.<\/p>\n
Back in the 1960\u2019s, a patient could easily have their teeth cleaned and examined twice a year, have their necessary x-rays, and have a good amount of basic care for their teeth.\u00a0 Now, you would be hard pressed to find anyone that doesn\u2019t max out their benefits with their two cleanings and one crown.\u00a0 Dental insurance has not kept up in any way with the increased costs in dentistry.<\/p>\n
We have known this trend for many years and encouraged patients to think of their dental insurance more like a supplement rather than a \u201cpay-all\u201d.\u00a0 However, in the past couple of years, more challenges have arisen with dental insurance.\u00a0 Many employers are struggling in this economy to continue to provide dental coverage for their employees.\u00a0 So they go to the insurance company with a certain amount of dollars for dental coverage and ask the insurance company what benefits can be provided for that amount.\u00a0Insurance companies then begin to create all different kinds of limits to a plan in order to provide a policy for the designated dollar amount.<\/p>\n
Stay tuned for more information on current trends in dental insurance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dental insurance was developed in the 1960\u2019s as a separate benefit for oral health care.\u00a0 At that time, the standard level of coverage was $1000 maximum per year; preventive services at 100%, basic services at 80% and major services at 50%.\u00a0 Does this sound familiar to anyone?\u00a0 Most plans are still at this exact same […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n